


Floyd

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23015287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex's family puts down their dog, which upsets Alex.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Floyd

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely based off of my personal life.

“See you tomorrow, Jack. Text me if you need any help with that algebra homework,” Alex said as he walked to the junior parking lot with Jack on a Monday afternoon, right after the bell rang.  
“I probably will, that logarithm shit makes literally zero sense to me,” Jack replied, making them both laugh as they finally made it over to their cars, which were parked right next to each other.  
“No problem, I’ll od my best to help. I’ll text you later,” Alex said as he got into his car.  
“See you later, man,” Jack replied, getting into his own car. After starting the car and putting on some music, Alex made his way out of the parking lot, then started to drive to his house.   
As far as he knew, he didn’t have anything going on this afternoon, which he was very happy about. Lately, life had been a bit stressful for Alex, so he was grateful that he could just go home and relax with his dog, Floyd. Alex’s family had Floyd since he was six, and Alex loved to be with his dog when he was upset or stressed about life, like he was now.   
When Alex finally pulled into his driveway, he was surprised to see both of his parents’ cars in the garage; this was a weird sighting for a Monday afternoon right after school. Alex shrugged it off as he grabbed his backpack and walked inside and made his way to the living room. Both of his parents were sitting on the couch, and they had sad looks on their faces.  
“Hey guys, this is early for you all to be here,” Alex pointed out as he sat down in a chair across from his parents.  
“Alex, we have to tell you something,” Alex’s mom started.  
“As you know, Floyd’s not been doing very well, with that cancerous tumor and everything. In about thirty minutes, a vet is going to come here to put Floyd to sleep so he doesn’t have to suffer anymore. We didn’t want to tell you before now, because we didn’t want to ruin your school day,” Alex’s dad explained in an unsteady voice.  
“What? Floyd’s getting put down today?” Alex asked, tears immediately forming in his eyes.  
“I’m afraid so, Alex,” his mom replied.  
“Where is he?” Alex continued, his voice cracking some.  
“He’s on the bed in our bedroom. You can go be with him if you’d like,” his dad replied. Without saying anything, Alex got up and walked over to his parents’ room. Floyd was laying in the middle of the bed, lightly snoring some. Seeing Floyd made Alex lose it; he started crying harder as he climbed into the bed, laying down next to Floyd.   
“Hey buddy,” Alex quietly said as tears poured from his eyes.  
“I guess that this is our last little bit of time together, and I just want you to know that I love you so much. You’ve been with me through everything and have made so many hard times better. I’m glad you won’t have to suffer anymore, but I’m going to miss you so fucking much. I love you, buddy,” Alex said through his tears. Alex kissed Floyd’s nose, which had lost its moisture from his failing health, then wrapped him into a big hug.   
The two of them stayed like this, completely silent, aside from Floyd’s snores which gave Alex some comfort. Half an hour later, Alex’s dad walked into the room.  
“It’s time, Alex,” he said, walking over to the bed. Alex just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Alex’s dad picked Floyd up since he couldn’t walk very well, and carried him to the backyard, where Alex’s mom and the vet were waiting.   
Alex sat between his parents on the ground and grabbed onto one of Floyd’s paws as the vet explained how the procedure would go. Alex and his parents said their final goodbyes, then the vet shot the medicine into Floyd.  
“He’ll pass within the next few minutes. I’m going to get the car ready for him while you all have your last few minutes with him,” the vet said, getting up and leaving the yard. Alex’s parents wrapped him into a hug, but Alex didn’t let go of Floyd’s paw. He continued to cry, and nothing his parents were doing or saying was able to make him stop.   
Alex knew this day was coming, but that thought didn’t help him to really feel prepared for this. After a few minutes, the vet came back and took Floyd’s body, then gave some final condolences before driving off.  
“Alex, honey, are you okay?” Alex’s mom asked.  
“Not at all. Can I ask Jack to come over? Talking with him about this might help,” Alex asked as he continued to cry.  
“Of course you can, just let us know if we can do anything,” Alex’s mom replied.  
“Thanks, mom,” Alex said, running up to his room. He sat on his bed, then pulled out his phone to text Jack.  
Alex: Hey Jack, can you please come over? It’s kind of important.  
Jack: Sure, is everything okay?  
Alex: Not really, but I’ll explain when you get here.  
Jack: I’ll be there ASAP.  
Alex exited out of his texts, then clicked on his photos, and he started to scroll through a bunch of pictures of Floyd, which made him cry even more. There were photos of just Floyd, and there were a bunch of pictures of the two of them.   
Alex had always enjoyed taking pictures of and with Floyd and knowing he couldn’t do that now made him feel even more crushed inside. Alex continued to look at the pictures on his phone and cry until he heard a knock at his door.  
“Come in,” Alex said, his voice cracking some.  
“Holy shit, what’s wrong, Alex?” Jack asked, rushing over to his best friend.  
“We had to put Floyd down about half an hour ago,” Alex replied, new tears forming in his eyes.  
“Oh shit, come here,” Jack said, pulling Alex into a tight hug. Alex cried into Jack’s shoulder, loud sobs making his whole body shake. Jack knew how important Floyd had been to Alex, so he could only imagine how Alex was feeling on the inside.   
As Alex continued to cry, Jack rubbed his back, and hugged him as tightly as he could to show his support. Eventually, Alex sat up again, and tried to wipe away some of his tears while new ones continued to form.  
“Alex, I’m so sorry about this, I know how much you loved Floyd,” Jack said in a sympathetic voice.  
“I hate this, that dog meant the world to me, and now he’s gone,” Alex said in a bitter voice.  
“He’s gone physically, but you’ll always have great, happy memories with him that you can keep forever!” Jack tried.  
“That’s true, but it’s not the same. Have I ever really told you why Floyd meant so much to me?” Alex asked.  
“Well, you’ve said that he was always there with you through some bad shit, but you’ve never really gone into details, Jack replied.  
“Well, I had some family issues when I was a kid; my parents would argue a lot, and it would scare me. I always thought they’d get divorced, and I didn’t feel like I could talk to them about that fear, so I always just talked to Floyd about it. Obviously, he couldn’t say anything back to me, but venting to him felt good, and he was always such a good listener. He let me hug him as I went on about whatever huge fight mom and dad got into, and just stayed with me for as long as I needed him,” Alex explained.  
“Well, that definitely makes sense, why he was so special to you,” Jack replied.  
“There’s a bit more to it. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ve also had some shitty luck with friends over the years. You’ve been a wonderful friend ever since we first met, which I’m so grateful for, but it wasn’t always like that before you. I had a best friend for five years who was hypercompetitive, and always reminded me that I was less than him. I didn’t get why he was like that, but I knew that it hurt my feelings, and made me feel like shit. Sometimes, after hanging out with him, I’d come home and keep Floyd in my room, just so I could be with someone who made me feel happy. There are other reasons he meant so much to me, but those are the main ones. Floyd ahs always been a constant in my life and has made so many bad things just a little easier to deal with. Him being gone just feels wrong,” Alex explained, tears still falling from his eyes.  
“Damn, I never knew the extent of all of that, dude. I knew you had some shitty friends, but I dint know the details. I’m glad you had Floyd around to help you feel better back then, and I get why him passing hurts you so much. Do you think that getting a new dog would help at all?” Jack continued, putting an arm around Alex’s shoulder.  
“Well, I definitely want to get another dog, not having one around just feels wrong, but it won’t feel the same- it won’t be Floyd,” Alex replied.  
“That makes sense. I know this may not help, but Floyd was a wonderful dog. I only knew him for a few years, but he was my favorite pet of a friend. He was so sweet, and really made me fall in love with dogs. I know it hurts that he’s gone, but he’s always going to be with you. Besides, this hurts because you love him and because he means so much to you, which speaks to the depth of your relationship with him. Floyd loved you very much, Alex. I could always tell, and he still does now, it’s just different now,” Jack explained.  
“That’s a good way to look at it, thanks, Jack. I hate that he’s gone, but this pain I’m feeling really does show how strong the connection I had with him was. I wish I could snuggle with him again or take him on another walk. When I was in sixth grade, I started taking him on walks every day after school, and continued to do that until this year, since walking around became really hard for him,” Alex stated.  
“Oh yeah, I remember that. What happened that messed up his walking?” Jack asked.  
“He had a cancerous tumor on his hip. As soon as he got it, I knew that it was the beginning of the end, but I tried to push that thought from my mind because I didn’t want to admit to myself that it was true. Since we’ve not been able to walk, when I came home from school over the past few months, I’d sit on the kitchen floor with him, and I’d just talk to him. I would just say whatever random shit came to mind, but I always let him know that I loved him. I thanked him for everything that he’d done for me,” Alex explained, wiping more tears away.  
“That’s good, he knew how loved he was, and that’s what’s important, Alex. I know this is hard, and you don’t want a life without him in it. I know this sucks that he won’t physically be with you anymore, but he’s not in pain now, which is for the best, you can still talk to him, he just won’t be physically next to you anymore. I know this sucks, but I’m right here for you, man. Today, tomorrow, and whenever you need it. Loss is hard, and I want to do what I can to help you through it,” Jack stated as he pulled Alex into another hug.  
“Thank you, Jack, you’re really the best friend ever. It still really hurts, and I fucking hate it, but everything you’ve said has really helped,” Alex said as they both smiled at each other.  
“There’s that smile! Why don’t we watch something for now, and if there’s something else about Floyd you want to talk about, we can turn the TV back off and talk again?” Jack suggested.  
“I’d like that,” Alex replied, turning on his TV. Alex put on an episode of South Park, then they got comfortable in Alex’s bed.   
Alex’s heart still hurt quite a bit from losing Floyd, and he knew that it would continue to do so for a while, but having Jack to lean on through everything made this a lot easier for Alex to handle, and for that, he was very grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is actually a story I've wanted to write up for a while now. This is completely based off of the day we put my childhood dog down, almost four years ago now. His name was also Floyd, and I decided to keep that the same in this story, and make it the title. Any personal story that I post goes up with the hopes of it possibly helping someone going through something similar, so hopefully this can bring you guys some comfort if you're going through something similar. I have some other personal stories I plan on writing and sharing, and those will happen in the near future. I said this on yesterday's fic, but I'm totally out of requests! Please send in more if you have you them, I'd love to write more of your all's ideas! Thank you for reading, it really does mean the world. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
